Merry Wilkinson is visiting Ascroft, eh? to tell us about Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, the latest novel in the Year-round Christmas mystery series.

Welcome, Merry. Let’s get started, shall we?

Tell us about the novel that you live inside. Is it part of a series? If so, please tell us about the series too.

My newest adventure can be found in the pages of HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, by Vicki Delany.  This is the sixth in the Year-Round Christmas series, and I’m delighted to say that after having spent the last three years in a little box, I’m back! The series is set in Rudolph, New York, your Year-Round Christmas destination. In this outing, I get involved (unwillingly) in an amateur theatrical production of A Christmas Carol, in which tensions and rivalries among the cast and crew threaten to get out of hand.

Does the writer control what happens in the story or do you get a say too?

I try to put my 0.02c worth in, but I usually let Vicki Delany have her way. It makes her cranky if she’s not in charge.

How did you evolve as the main character?

Have I evolved? I hope I have. Vicki finally let me realize who is the love of my life and become more comfortable in the career path I’ve chosen.

Do you have any other characters you like sharing the story with? If so, why are you partial to them?

My closest friend is the owner of Victoria’s Bake Shoppe, in our town. I have to let Vicky Casey help me investigate otherwise she’ll cut me off mince tarts and gingerbread. I know my dad isn’t Santa Claus, but I do wonder sometimes. In HAVE YOURSELF A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, my mom, a former diva at the Metropolitan Opera, is involved. Once a diva always a diva.

What’s the place like where you find yourself in this story?

My home town of Rudolph, New York, where we celebrate Christmas all year round. I own Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and decor shop.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell readers about you and the book?

Come and celebrate the true spirit of the holiday season with us in Rudolph, New York by enjoying a live on-stage production of the musical version of A Christmas Carol. If you can’t make it in December, you’re welcome any time of the year. If the occasional murder happens, sorry about that.

Thank you for answering my questions, Merry, and good luck to you and your author, Vicki Delany, with Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, the latest book in the Year-round Christmas mystery series.

Readers can learn more about Merry and her author, Vicki Delany by visiting the author’s website and her Facebook, Bookbub, and Instagram pages. You can also follow her on Twitter.

The novel is available at the following online retailers:

Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse

About Vicki Delany: Vicki is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S.  Author of more than fifty books, she is currently writing the Tea by the Sea mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year-Round Christmas mysteries, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates). Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.